transgender Archives

February 11, 2015August 20, 2019

Laverne Cox Cast In New CBS Pilot Doubt

Laverne Cox cast in new CBS pilot, Doubt

Transgender actress Laverne Cox continues breaking barriers as news arrives that she’s been cast in a new CBS network series, Doubt.

The Orange is the New Black actress will play a transgender Ivy League-educated attorney, described as “competitive as she is compassionate. She’s fierce, funny and the fact that she’s experienced injustice first hand makes her fight all the harder for her clients.”

The Doubt role was always conceived as a transgender character, and it’s tough to imagine a better catch for the part – Cox made the cover of Time magazine last year in a story about the transgender movement. While there have been plenty of transgender characters on broadcast TV shows in the past, they are often short-term parts or comedic roles.

February 4, 2015August 20, 2019

Trailer: Drunktown’s Finest

Independent feature film, Drunktown’s Finest, following an acclaimed run on the festival circuit, is coming to theaters this season. Presented by executive producer Robert Redford, the film will open in New York City at the Quad Cinema on February 20, in Los Angeles at the Arena Cinema on February 27 and follow in select markets over the coming weeks.

Drunktown’s Finest premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Narrative. In addition, the film was awarded HBO Best First Feature awards at Outfest 2014, as well as Best Film at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco.

Synopsis: Drunktown’s Finest is the coming-of-age story of three young Native Americans – a college-bound Christian girl raised by white parents, a rebellious and lost father-to-be, and an aspiring transsexual model – as they struggle to escape the hardships of life on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico.

As the three find their lives becoming more complicated and their troubles growing, their paths begin to intersect. With little in common other than a shared heritage, they soon learn that the key to overcoming their obstacles may come from the most unlikely of sources, each other.

Check the trailer below and the official Facebook page here.

January 19, 2015August 20, 2019

Watch: “Coach Beiste” On GLEE Comes Out As Transgender

In this scene from GLEE’s 3rd episode of the season, three-time Emmy Award nominee Dot Marie Jones (“Coach Beiste”) comes out as transgender to Sam (Chord Overstreet) and principal Sue Sylvester (out actor Jane Lynch).

I applaud the show approaching a very important subject. Some fans of the show, however, point out that this story arc conflicts with who the character has professed to being in the past (“deep down I am still just a girl”).

I think the challenges transgender folk face are real, and very important, so I look forward to seeing how this is handled during the Fox series’ last season.

I think with Dot Marie Jones handling the acting duties, the arc is in great hands.

January 3, 2015August 20, 2019

Tumblr Account Of Leelah Alcorn Disappears From Tumblr

The Tumblr account of Leelah Alcorn, whose suicide this past week has galvanized the LGBT community, has disappeared.

Those searching for Leelah’s account are now greeted by a standard Tumblr ‘not found’ page, which states: ‘There’s nothing here. Whatever you were looking for doesn’t currently exist at this address. Unless you were looking for this error page, in which case: Congrats! You totally found it.’

However, an investigation last year revealed that Tumblr appeared to have banned a number of tags from its mobile app, including ‘gay,’ ‘lesbian,’ ‘bisexual’ and ‘transsexual.’

They had also banned ‘depression’ and ‘suicide.’

Leelah’s last posts may have been removed either because she claimed to be transgender – or because their content related to suicide. This would not, however, explain why her entire blog, including artwork and images that she created for her sisters, has now gone.

An alternative theory is that her Tumblr account has now been removed by her family: either they have requested this of Tumblr; or her password has been located and the account now closed down.

Especially sad is that Leelah’s last two posts to her Tumblr account were written and pre-scheduled to post after her death. She clearly wanted her posts to live on as her legacy for future trans people to find and hopefully realize they were not alone.

And now, they are gone.

Sad.

January 3, 2015August 20, 2019

Hundreds Rally In Ohio In Memorial For Transgender Teen Leelah Alcorn

Hundreds have gathered tonight in Columbus Ohio and across U.S. for memorial for Leelah Alcorn. #StandUp4Leelah pic.twitter.com/ahhH2HMbYB— The Task Force (@TheTaskForce) January 3, 2015

January 1, 2015August 20, 2019

Dan Savage On The Death Of Transgender Teen Leelah Alcorn

In the aftermath of Ohio transgender teen Leelah Alcorn’s suicide, the LGBT community has rallied in her memory.

And none more fervently than Dan Savage, who calls for criminal charges to be brought against the teen’s parents:

If Tyler Clemente’s roommate could be prosecuted—and he was—then the parents of #LeelahAlcorn can & should be: http://t.co/VC1W4wCQ7k
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) December 31, 2014

#LeelahAlcorn‘s parents threw her in front of that truck. They should be ashamed—but 1st they need to be shamed. Charges should be brought.
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) December 31, 2014

.@samueloakford What charges? Child abuse. Neglect. Reckless endangerment. Manslaughter. #LeelahAlcorn
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) December 31, 2014

We know that parental hostility & rejection doubles a queer kid’s already quadrupled risk of suicide—rejecting your queer kid is abuse.
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) December 31, 2014

Speaking to CNN, Leelah’s mother Carla Alcorn said, “We told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy.”

December 30, 2014August 20, 2019

Ohio: 17 Year Old Transgender Teenager Commits Suicide, Leaves Heartbreaking Suicide Note

Very sad to read the story of Leelah Alcorn, a 17 year old transgender teenager who committed suicide this past Sunday morning by walking in front of a tractor trailer on the highway.

Leelah struggled with her parents reaction to her coming to the realization that she was trans.

From her suicide note which appeared on her Tumblr account hours after she died:

If you are reading this, it means that I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue.

Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender. I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body, and I’ve felt that way ever since I was 4. I never knew there was a word for that feeling, nor was it possible for a boy to become a girl, so I never told anyone and I just continued to do traditionally “boyish” things to try to fit in.

When I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness. After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong. If you are reading this, parents, please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me.

[snip]

My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say “that’s fucked up” and fix it. Fix society. Please.

Goodbye,

(Leelah) Josh Alcorn

In a follow-up post, Leelah apologized to friends and family but had this to say her parents:

Mom and Dad: Fuck you. You can’t just control other people like that. That’s messed up.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or depression there are resources for help:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

December 19, 2014August 20, 2019

Department Of Justice Says Title VII Bans Workplace Discrimination Against Transgender People

According to a memo released by US Attorney General Eric Holder, the Department of Justice will now interpret Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as explicitly prohibiting workplace discrimination against transgender people.

The AP reports that “in defending lawsuits, the federal government also will no longer take the position that Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, which bans sex discrimination, does not protect against workplace discrimination on the basis of gender status.”

November 20, 2014August 20, 2019

Today Is Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20th marks the annual worldwide observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a memorial to the many people lost to anti-transgender violence.

This is a day to pause and remember lives lost this year due to anti-transgender violence.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the first TDOR, held in remembrance of Rita Hester, a trans woman of color whose life was cut tragically short in 1999.

ThinkProgress offers these five fast facts about what transgender people experience in society:

• There were 226 transgender people murdered in the past year worldwide, but those are only the known reported incidents.

• In 2013, 72 percent of all anti-LGBTQ homicide victims were transgender women; 67 percent were specifically transgender women of color.

• 41 percent of transgender people have attempted suicide, compared to 4.6 percent of the general population, and studies suggest that rampant discrimination is responsible for the disparity.

• 55 percent of students have experienced verbal harassment in school because of their gender expression; 23 percent have experienced physical harassment.

• Transgender people are twice as likely to be currently homeless, twice as likely to be unemployed, and four times as likely to be living in poverty.

I realize that the idea and understanding of transgender people is new to many, as the media is just now giving attention to trans folks. At the end of the day, what’s important to stress is that TDOR is about expressing all of who we are without apology.